Q: What did you do prior to working at Edward Jones?
A: I was a broker for 20 years. The last 12 years I spent with a bank brokerage firm. Q: What were you looking for in a new opportunity?
A: I was looking for basically something where I could run a business and have some sort of autonomy without the responsibility of actually owning my own business. Q: What appealed to you most about Edward Jones?
A: I’d say the main thing that appealed to me was the opportunity to be my own boss more than anything else. It was just the opportunity to run a business without having to hire an office branch manager, buy a printer, get my own health insurance, all of those kinds of things. So I felt like Edward Jones was perfect because it allowed me to be as close as possible to running my own business without having all of the other responsibilities that came along with it. And, ultimately, I think that in this business for most of us anymore, it’s more about life choices and lifestyle than it is about dollars. We all want to make a good living. We all expect to make a good living, especially after as long as I’ve been in the industry. But I think, particularly for me, it was about quality-of-life issues. And I think that Edward Jones is a much better fit for that kind of thing than the other firms were. Q: What type of training did you receive at Edward Jones?
A: St. Louis sent me a transitional rep who helped me transfer my book of business, and she was there for the first month with me. And everything I possibly could want to know about Edward Jones, she knew. She is the most amazing person, and she’s had a ton of experience not only being a Financial Advisor, but also as a BOA. So she knew both sides of the office. She could help my assistant, who also came with me. She taught her the business, showed her what had to be done, what kinds of things were urgent and critical versus things that we could put off. She's absolutely fantastic. Q: Did you get any help from veteran Financial Advisors?
A: Yes. The veteran support that I’ve gotten from Edward Jones has been tremendous, and it actually started before I even came to work at Edward Jones, when they were recruiting me. Believe it or not, one of the vets used to send my husband diversification trip brochures to show him where we could be going if I worked at Edward Jones. And when I started to work for the company, I had all kinds of Financial Advisors call me, first to welcome me aboard, but also to offer assistance in any way, come by my office, help me out in terms of learning the system. Q: What else has changed about your business since coming to Edward Jones?
A: As soon as I came to work at Edward Jones, I was amazed at the number of referrals that I started getting from relationships that I had had for quite some time but were still hesitant to refer to a bank broker. You come to work at Edward Jones, and things change and you have the credibility. Because you’re working for this firm, others are not afraid to say, "I’m referring you to Mary Caporale, who works at Edward Jones," not Mary Caporale the bank broker. For better or worse, that’s a reality of our business, and so that’s been really gratifying.
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